1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector used in an electrical connection.
2. Description of Related Art
Various electronic instruments are mounted to a motor vehicle. Wire harnesses have been used to interconnect these electronic instruments. The wire harness includes a plurality of electric wires and a plurality of connectors connected respectively to ends of the electric wires.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional connector. As shown in FIG. 6, a connector 201 includes a terminal 202 connected to an end of an electric wire 4 and a housing 203 arranged to receive the terminal 202. The electric wire 4 formed into a circular cross-section includes a conductive core wire 41 and an insulation cover 42 covering the core wire 41. The terminal 202 is formed by pressing a thin metal plate. The terminal 202 includes: an electrical connection portion 221 electrically connected with a mating terminal 12 of a mating connector 11; a wire connection portion 222 connected to the core wire 41 of the electric wire 4 by a pair of crimping pieces 222a to be electrically connected therewith; and a wire fixation portion 223 connected to the insulation cover 42 of the electric wire 4 by a pair of fixing pieces 223a fixed to the insulation cover 42.
For such connector 201, when the electric wire 4 drawn out of the housing 203 is wired in a direction perpendicular to a direction of insertion of the connector 201, the electric wire 4 does not bend at a right angle but bends in an arc, as shown in FIG. 6. Therefore, an installation space which is large enough for a height H2 is required.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another conventional connector. FIG. 8 is a developed view of a terminal of the connector of FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 7, a connector 301 includes a terminal 302 connected to an end of the electric wire 4 and a housing 303 arranged to receive the terminal 302. The terminal 302 is formed by pressing a thin metal plate formed. The terminal 302 includes: an electrical connection portion 321 electrically connected with the mating terminal 12 of the mating connector 11; a wire connection portion 322 fixed to the core wire 41 of the electric wire 4 by a pair of crimpers 322a and electrically connected therewith; a wire fixation portion 323 fixed to the insulation cover 42 of the electric wire 4 by a pair of fixing pieces 323a fixed to the insulation cover 42; and a bending portion 324 located between the electrical connection portion 321 and the wire connection portion 322 and arranged to be bent at a right angle.
For such connector 301, the electric wire is drawn out from the housing 303 in a direction perpendicular to a mating direction of the connector 301. Since the connector 301 is arranged so as not to bend the electric wire 4 but to bend the bending portion 324 of the terminal 302, the installation space along a height direction can be smaller compared to the installation space H2 required for the attachment of the connector 201.
However, although the above-described connector 301 can slightly reduce the installation space in the height direction compared to that of the above-described connector 201, there still remains a problem. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, since a longitudinal dimension L3 of the metal plate constituting the terminal 302, i.e. the dimension along the mating direction with respect to the mating terminal 12, is larger than a longitudinal dimension of the metal plate constituting the terminal 202 of the connector 201 due to the above-described bending portion 324. Thus, the cost of the terminal 302 is increased. Furthermore, due to the recent rise in the cost of metal, a connector with a terminal formed with less amount of metal is desirable. In addition, a dotted line in FIG. 8 indicates a folding line of the metal plate constituting the terminal 302.
Such connector with a terminal formed with less amount of metal is disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-258103. This connector includes a terminal having an electrical connection portion electrically connected with a mating terminal and a wire connection portion foxed to and electrically connected with a core wire of an electric wire. A portion including the wire connection portion and an end portion of an insulation cover of the electric wire of this connector is formed into a molded resin layer by molding with a synthetic resin. Such connector does not require the wire fixation portion 223, 323 provided at the terminal 202, 302, i.e. the pair of fixing pieces 223a, 323a, since the terminal and the electric wire are fixed together by the molded resin layer. Thus, an amount of metal used for the terminal can be reduced.
However, although the above-described connector of the prior art can reduce the amount of metal used for the terminal and can reduce the cost of the terminal itself, this connector of the prior art requires a special equipment for forming the above-described molded resin layer. Therefore, there is still a problem of an increase in a processing cost.
The above-described connectors 201, 301 further have a problem, other than the ones described above. That is, an external force applied to the electric wire 4 can easily transmit to the electrical connection portion 221, 321, causing a connection failure between the electrical connection portion and the mating terminal 12.